After spending 5 months and placing 10,000km on an MG 4, we’re fairly assured in saying that the 2024 MG 4 is arguably the most effective electrical automobiles you should purchase in Australia right this moment.
Not solely is it priced very competitively, it delivers the vary it guarantees, it’s secure and simple to stay with. Better of all, it’s truly a enjoyable automotive to drive with good dynamics, an ideal journey and a well-packaged inside that makes this an excellent metropolis automotive or a second automotive for many.
In some way although, it has some fundamental (however very annoying) software program bugs that we might like to see MG repair to enhance the possession expertise. These are actually a number of strains of code within the automotive’s pc system that will make an enormous distinction.
However first, let me inform you just a little about my MG 4 expertise. Please take it from the attitude that that is certainly the primary electrical car that I’ve had for a chronic time frame.
Regardless of having examined just about all the EVs on supply right this moment (from the GWM Ora to the Rolls-Royce Spectre), the MG 4 was the primary that I lived with and that introduced a complete completely different outlook to the expertise.
This 2024 MG 4 Essence 64 in Diamond Purple Metallic was picked up from Sydney. The primary expertise was the drive again to Brisbane through the M1 utilizing public charging infrastructure (cue the horror). This was not enjoyable.
Though it bears no actual reflection on the MG 4, the truth that the general public charging infrastructure on Australia’s major freeway – the M1 – is so unhealthy, will inform you all you might want to find out about electrical car networks in our nation.
It wasn’t a lot the protection because the chargers (most of that are made by the now virtually bankrupt Brisbane-based firm Tritium) being both out of order, in use, or tremendous sluggish.
Whenever you learn a automotive firm’s claims that their electrical autos can cost at loopy kW speeds –140kW within the MG 4’s case – the truth is that just about no charging station will assist that in Australia.
You’ll be fortunate to get 50kW speeds and should you occur to attain a working 150kW charger, it should doubtless cap you to 75kW if another person is there (and there’s at all times another person there).
Or, it’ll provide you with another motive why it gained’t cost at max theoretical pace, which within the case of the one 150kW charger we tried in our time of possession refused to cost previous 75kW except the car structure was 800V (the MG 4 is 400V).
Having performed the journey from Sydney to Brisbane over 30 occasions in my life, I do know it may be performed in slightly below 10 hours with a number of tremendous fast stops. Within the case of the MG 4, the shortage of working charging infrastructure, having to attend for hours to get a spot or easy tremendous sluggish charging, stretched that out to over 14 hours.
After all, this has nothing to do with the MG 4. If there have been sufficient working and accessible chargers with excessive energy capability, the journey would in all probability take roughly 1.5 hours longer than an ICE automotive, because the MG 4 can recharge from 10 to 80 per cent in an hour and the journey is about 920km; that means you set off with a full cost (about 400km), do one quick cost again to about 320km, then one other to round 250km and you may get dwelling no downside.
As soon as we arrived in Brisbane round 11pm, after what was a fairly arduous expertise of going from one damaged charger to a different, the expertise of proudly owning an EV received lots higher.
For the primary few weeks, we determined to see if we are able to stay with the MG 4 by merely going to a neighborhood charging station as soon as every week and charging it again as much as 80 per cent. Given my spouse was additionally driving the automotive a bit (she completely beloved it) we labored out we have been truly placing on a tad over 400km every week and required two costs per week.
There are two native stations inside a 10-minute drive that each quoted 75kW charges. Aside from the very fact they normally have been each in use; even when one was accessible, it might imply a charging expertise of someplace between 25-50kW at greatest, so to get again to 80 per cent or greater meant sitting round for an hour on the very least.
I attempted to make use of the station that was in a purchasing centre so I may do some grocery purchasing on the similar time, however it doesn’t take me an hour to purchase fundamental groceries. It additionally occurs typically that you just get there, there’s a queue, so you need to sit round and wait to your automotive to be plugged in earlier than you go in, including anyplace between a couple of minutes to an hour to your ‘cost’ time.
A lot to my insane frustration, many of the charging stations are taken up by Teslas, which have their very own charging infrastructure that they refuse to make use of in order that they will save a number of {dollars}. Non-Tesla EVs can use very restricted variety of Tesla chargers, none of which have been anyplace close to me.
After a number of weeks, it grew to become apparent you want dwelling charging should you personal an EV – it doesn’t matter which one – and we might completely not suggest getting an electrical automotive should you can’t cost it at dwelling. It’s not well worth the trouble!
We debated which charging system to make use of, and initially we have been going to make use of the MG-supplied one. But it surely was single part and will solely go as much as 7kW for AC charging – though that’s the utmost this explicit MG 4 helps (the Lengthy Vary can do 11kWh on AC), it made sense to future proof the charger.
Given we already had three-phase energy equipped to the storage once we constructed the home, we determined to go along with the Tesla wall charger (third-generation). It’s appropriate with any EV I’ve tried and may cost at as much as 22kW. It additionally has wonderful software program that you should use to schedule your charging for when electrical energy is at its least expensive.
It’s as much as you which of them wall charger you go for, and MG additionally now provides three-phase wallboxes that can cost at greater speeds, however after a lot analysis and given the associated fee was solely round $700, the Tesla system made essentially the most sense, and thus far we’ve had no challenge with it.
As soon as the wall charger was put in, residing with the MG 4 grew to become a lot extra handy than having an inner combustion engine car. All this nonsense round having to attend round to cost the automotive disappeared in a single day.
Merely plug it in once you get dwelling, program your wallbox to start out charging round 1am to 6am for cheaper electrical energy costs, and by morning, you might be at all times again to 100 per cent.
It received to a degree the place my spouse was aggravated when she needed to drive one other automotive that wanted fossil gas. Mentioning how soiled petrol stations have been and the way inconvenient it’s to should cease someplace to refill – the irony.
How does the MG4 examine?
View an in depth breakdown of the MG4 in opposition to equally sized autos.
MG
MG4
How a lot does the MG 4 price?
MY23 inventory remains to be accessible at some sellers at a decrease price, however for 2024 mannequin years, the costs are under.
Notice the above costs don’t embrace EV incentives supplied in some states (e.g. as much as $6000 in QLD), nor does it keep in mind the capability to lease the car utilizing your pre-tax earnings and never being impacted by fringe profit tax.
The above makes the marketed worth of this automotive considerably of a moot level, as a result of the weekly lease price of the automotive is considerably decrease than extra expensively priced non-electric autos.
What’s the MG 4 like on the within?
The MG 4 is surprisingly snug inside, with wonderful outward visibility and good seats broth entrance and rear.
The small driver’s instrument show is a pleasant characteristic however it might be nice if MG may take the additional step and truly simply line up the 2 inside shows collectively for a extra seamless expertise.
The heated seats have been barely utilized in QLD, although because it received colder in June we discovered ourselves turning them on sometimes.
We discovered the six-speaker audio system to be fairly first rate, however the lack of wi-fi Apple CarPlay was maybe essentially the most irritating side of the infotainment system.
Add to that wired CarPlay would solely work through the USB-A port, not the USB-C port, which is just a little weird. When you have a brand new iPhone, you’ll need to get a USB-A to USB-C adapter which is okay, however charging pace is proscribed in consequence.
One of the best ways to beat that’s to purchase a $50 wi-fi CarPlay adapter from Amazon, plug that into the USB-A port, then join the iPhone to that wirelessly whereas it’s plugged into the USB-C port for quick charging.
This appeared to work superb. In reality, it labored extra reliability than the direct CarPlay connection – which within the first few months of possession saved dropping out till the corporate did a software program replace and that appeared to repair it.
The opposite factor price noting is the wi-fi telephone charger says it’s 15 watts however that’s solely you probably have an Android telephone that helps that pace. Apple limits charging speeds for non-certified chargers to 7.5 watts (15W on Apple chargers), which is extremely irritating.
The excellent news is that the wi-fi charger within the MG 4 is just about ineffective anyway. It sits nearly horizontal to the automotive with subsequent to no assist for holding the telephone in place; so except it’s your grandma driving, you’ll end up catching a flying $2000 iPhone each time you speed up off the lights after which attempting to realign it on the charger.
When it comes to match and end, we discovered the MG 4 to be undoubtedly on par with another automotive on the worth level, if not a bit higher.
It doesn’t really feel low cost; it truly feels well-built and the buttons and switchgear additionally work nicely.
We might find it irresistible if we didn’t have to make use of the display screen to vary the AC temperature although, although there’s a bodily button to show the aircon on and off – which you should use to activate the display screen for altering the temperature .
Simply give us fundamental controls for temperature with out having to make use of a display screen.
Aside from the Lengthy Vary variant, the remainder of the MG 4 vary presents 363L of storage within the boot, which is certainly sufficient for the week’s groceries however not superb if you wish to put bigger and bulkier gadgets in there. If you happen to fold the rear seats down, it does broaden to 1177L (1165 Lengthy Vary).
What we are able to say after 10,000km is that the inside nonetheless seems to be new – minus the telephone charger mat, which has unusually misplaced its color, maybe as a result of warmth generated within the charging course of(?). The standard of the inside supplies has remained stable and unfazed by the tough solar and each day use.
What’s underneath the bonnet?
The MG 4 Essence 64 on check is the mid spec mannequin for efficiency.
Efficiency knowledge:
Effectivity knowledge:
All fashions might be charged at 6.6kW on AC energy, other than the Lengthy Vary 77 which will get 11kW three-phase AC charging functionality.
How does the MG 4 drive?
So right here’s the factor, the MG 4 is definitely very nice to drive.
Being rear-wheel drive with an affordable quantity of energy and torque makes this nearly a sporty hatch. At 7.2 seconds to 100km/h for the mannequin on check (the XPower is supercar fast at 3.8s) you’ll be able to undoubtedly have a little bit of enjoyable in each day driving.
Sure, it’s undoubtedly not a sports activities automotive, however its dynamics are higher than most small petrol automobiles in its class, a few of which price extra. The rationale for that’s that each one the facility and torque go to the rear wheels with a 50:50 weight distribution, like in a correct sports activities automotive. Even the Mercedes-Benz A-Class sends energy to the entrance wheels to save lots of price.
This conventional setup is the place MG has not skimped on prices. Having a rear-wheel drive small hatch is sort of sufficient motive to purchase the automotive itself, however the engineers have additionally managed to get the journey and dealing with of the MG 4 to a degree the place it feels prefer it has been arrange only for Australia’s distinctive situations.
Round Brisbane and surrounding suburbs, we discovered the MG 4 to at all times journey with grace and be nice general. It’s additionally surprisingly quiet even on poorly surfaced roads – keep in mind, noise intrusion in an EV is extra noticeable given the shortage of combustion engine up entrance.
A lot of the 10,000km we coated within the MG 4 was across the metropolis and drives between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Nonetheless on a number of events we additionally took the automotive from Brisbane to Warwick, which is a couple of 2-hour drive by a few of the twistiest roads you will see that in QLD.
Whereas we discovered the MG 4 persistently in a position to give us round 400km of vary from full cost round city, on the odd event once we drove it tremendous laborious and up mountains, the vary suffered rather a lot. That 400km declare was nearer to 280km.
We weren’t shocked by this as a result of when you concentrate on it, it’s exactly the identical as a standard petrol automotive – you drive it more durable, it makes use of extra gas; you drive the MG 4 more durable, it makes use of extra battery. Similar to you laptop computer or iPhone, should you begin enhancing movies in 4K, it should use extra energy and your battery will die faster.
The principle distinction with an EV, although, is that should you don’t have dependable charging choices, the discount in vary can meaningfully influence how you propose your drives.
For the 99.99 per cent of the time we had the MG 4, we discovered driving it and the battery vary to be very constant. If you happen to intend to purchase one among these and have it as a runabout for inner-city driving, you’ll by no means have any vary anxiousness or considerations as long as you’ve dwelling charging – it’s not the form of automotive you purchase for normal lengthy distance journeys, although.
The one pedal mode additionally works nicely, however we couldn’t work out a approach to preserve that setting on completely, that means you needed to go within the menu and switch it on every time you turned the automotive on. A fundamental software program bug that we hope MG will repair up with an replace quickly.
Whereas we love driving the MG 4, it had a ‘characteristic’ – or a bug as we wish to name it – that grew to become very irritating for me (although not my spouse, as a result of she is an grownup and may observe fundamental guidelines). The MG 4 refuses to enter gear except your seatbelt is on. I do know this sounds affordable, however it’s truly extremely annoying. Let me inform you why…
The CarExpert Brisbane workplace is in Fortitude Valley, and every morning after I drive in, I’ve to exit the car and contact my safety key on the scanner on the aspect of the storage so it opens the door (no distant).
With a view to do that, I’ve to get out of the MG 4 – which doesn’t flip off till you lock it, by the best way (give us an on/off button please!) – open the storage after which get again within the automotive, which is now in P. With a view to get transferring, the MG 4 calls for I placed on my seatbelt, wait a second or two, earlier than chimes to say “Prepared’ and solely then will it go into Drive.
This is identical case for my dwelling storage, I by no means put my seatbelt on till I exit the storage as a result of I like the flexibleness of transferring round for higher visibility. So each single day, I’ve an argument with the MG 4.
I preserve attempting to place it in Drive, by frantically rotating the dial and it retains telling me no… however get this, each now and again, it goes ‘okay superb’… which is much more complicated. Both let me do it, or don’t let me do it – don’t confuse Pavlov’s canine with the occasional constructive reinforcement.
I do know what you’re pondering, simply put in your rattling seatbelt, be an grownup and wait a number of seconds, however once you simply want to maneuver a number of metres, having to do that may be very annoying.
The doubtless motive for it’s because there is no such thing as a on/off button, so once you unlock the automotive, it activates by itself. Including that fundamental on/off performance would add that additional layer of safety to inform the automotive that I wish to transfer, however I don’t want my seatbelt at this second.
When some discuss poorly of the protection techniques in Chinese language-made automobiles, please allow them to know that is utter nonsense with regards to the MG 4. The energetic security techniques within the MG 4 are a few of the greatest in any Chinese language model we’ve got seen.
They’re well-tuned to Australian requirements, and the energetic cruise and lane preserve help labored nicely the overwhelming majority of the time. The corporate has come a really great distance for the reason that unique MG Pilot we examined a few years in the past, and it’s now on-par if not forward of many of the Japanese producers with regards to energetic security.
From a driving enjoyment and refinement perspective, the MG 4 is essentially the most completed EV in its class and worth level.
What do you get?
Regardless of there being a complete of 5 variants – separated by battery measurement, efficiency and tools – there are solely three trim ranges: Excite, Essence/Lengthy Vary, and XPower.
MG 4 Excite normal tools:
17-inch alloy wheelsTyre restore kitOne-pedal driveFour-mode regenerative brakingKeyless entry and startAutomatic LED headlightsAutomatic high-beam7.0-inch digital instrument cluster10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment systemWired Apple CarPlay, Android AutoDAB+ digital radio4-speaker sound systemBlack material upholsteryArtificial leather-wrapped steering wheelTilt and telescopic steering wheel adjustmentElectric aspect mirrors with heating functionality6-way handbook driver’s seat adjustmentiSmart Lite connectivity
MG 4 Essence and Lengthy Vary add:
18-inch alloy wheelsBlack roofActive grille shuttersRear privateness glassiSmart connectivity6-speaker sound systemSatellite navigationWireless telephone chargerAuto-dimming rear-view mirrorPower-folding exterior mirrorsHeight-adjustable load floorEV journey plannerSynthetic leather-based/material upholstery6-way energy driver’s seatHeated entrance seatsHeated steering wheelLeather-trimmed steering wheel
MG 4 XPower provides:
Metallic brake caliper coversAlcantara inside trimPolished trim accents
Is the MG 4 secure?
The MG 4 has a five-star security ranking primarily based on the extra revered Euro NCAP testing performed in 2022 – the native testing physique in Australia has additionally rated it 5 stars.
Normal security tools consists of:
AEB with pedestrian, bicycle owner detectionAdaptive cruise controlDriver consideration monitoringIntelligent pace restrict assistLane preserve assistLane departure warningTraffic Jam AssistTraffic signal recognitionRear parking sensorsReversing digicam
MG 4 Essence provides:
Blind-spot monitoringEmergency lane-keep assistRear cross-traffic alertSafe exit warningSurround-view digicam
How a lot does the MG 4 price to run?
All MG 4 fashions are backed by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee.
Given there’s actually not a lot to do for an electrical automotive, servicing intervals are huge at 24 months or 40,000km, whichever comes first. This may enormously scale back your operating prices, particularly should you can cost at dwelling.
CarExpert’s Tackle the MG 4
After nearly six months and greater than 10,000 km with the MG 4, I’ve change into an EV convert.
So long as you’ve dwelling charging, a small, reasonably priced electrical automotive makes numerous sense; and the MG 4 is arguably the most effective small EVs in Australia you should purchase proper now.
With a mix of nice expertise, very affordable vary and a very good beginning worth (that’s made higher by authorities incentives and FBT leasing advantages), the MG 4 is definitely price a glance you probably have been eyeing off a Tesla Mannequin 3. This may prevent round $15,000-20,000, and you’re going to get the additional benefit of not proudly owning a Tesla.
To be honest to the MG 4, we really feel it truly has a extra usable inside than the tremendous bland Mannequin 3, however that’s fairly subjective.
When you have been desirous about shopping for an MG 4, the stuff you shouldn’t be fearful about are the model’s reliability, construct high quality and efficiency.
The MG 4 by no means missed a beat in 10,000km of driving, and given its seven-year guarantee (howdy, Tesla?) and tremendous lengthy service durations, it should doubtless be the most cost effective automotive you’ve ever owned when it comes to operating prices.
My advice? Go check drive an MG 4 and see for your self. It’s price noting you’ll be able to examine this in opposition to the GWM Ora, which is just a bit cheaper and presents an identical degree of consolation and expertise, however lacks the dynamic refinement of the MG 4.
Now we have now swapped out of the MG 4 Essence 64 and into an MG 4 XPower, and can report again on that sooner or later.
Click on the photographs for the total gallery
MORE: Purchase an MG 4MORE: Every part MG 4